The Fallacy of Hope 1851

"The Fallacy of Hope" is a lithograph by Count Alfred Guillaume Gabriel D'Orsay, a renowned artist of the 19th century. Created in 1851, just a year before his death, the work depicts a lone figure standing in an interior setting, his face etched with weariness. The figure's posture and the inscription beneath the image suggest a somber reflection on the nature of hope and the ephemerality of life. The subtle detail and delicate shading of the lithograph, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, exemplify D'Orsay's artistic mastery in the genre of portraiture.